Objects such as aircrafts, spacecrafts, ground vehicles, buildings and bridges tend to develop flaws over time. Periodic inspections are performed to monitor possible flaws in these objects and further inspections are scheduled to ensure that flaws have not grown to design limited sizes. An automated method of detecting flaws without in-person inspections is through the use of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems.
Structural Health Monitoring systems are used to generate damage pattern estimates. The SHM systems consist of sensors, electronics hardware, and software that provide an estimate of the damage state of a structure. Because flaws in structures can lead to catastrophic events, possibly causing death, it is important that the damage estimates are reliable.
For the reasons stated above and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a Structural Health Monitoring system that provides reliable damage estimates.